The Wardrobe Explores Possibilities for Fashion Archives at Secret Warehouse
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
For fashion historian and exhibition curator, Julie Ann Clauss, the preservation of fashion archives goes well beyond the storing of seasonal items — it’s about taking them into the future and keeping them relevant.
Known for her experience archiving and curating for the Museum at FIT, Deitch Projects and other designer archives, with museum-level standards, Clauss was tapped by Tom Ford in 2008 to establish a comprehensive achievement of his work. It was then, Clauss told WWD, that she realized a resource that offered museum-quality fashion collection management and curational services was a need the industry was severely lacking.
More from WWD
In 2011, Clauss launched The Wardrobe, a premier fashion archival consultancy and curation studio that offers museum-quality conservation and restoration. The Wardrobe’s top-secret facility (the first of its kind to be housed in Los Angeles), offers museum-level temperature control, lighting, security systems and more at an undisclosed location. Called, Wardrobe West, the warehouse is the first archival fashion facility opened by a museum-trained fashion archivist.
Moreover, Clauss also effectively provides her clients with her expertise and market sensibility through the company’s first-of-its-kind services that enable designers and entertainers to unlock hidden value and leverage their archives for monetization and continued relevancy.
Today, The Wardrobe works with clients including Tom Ford, Calvin Klein and Chloë Sevigny, among other high-profile A-list celebrities, designers and couture collectors around the world.
Here, Clauss speaks to WWD about pioneering the business of fashion archiving, supporting the preservation of fashion and how she works with clients to creatively build upon the monetization of fashion archives.
WWD: How does The Wardrobe stand apart from other fashion archivists?
Julie Ann Clauss: The Wardrobe pioneered the business of fashion archiving, and as a result, we have a tremendous breadth of hands-on experience. Our clients range from fashion houses to A-list entertainers, to private collectors and as a result, we have seen it all.
We’ve built vintage inspiration libraries for corporate clients that own multiple labels, we’ve collected back the archives of major designers, we have unpacked the tour cases of Grammy-winning artists to repair and archive their stage costumes, we’ve researched and dated collections for private collectors — and those are just a few examples of the wide-ranging work we’ve done.
We are also the only archiving firm that helps its clients monetize their archives — without having to auction them off. And our access to capital enables our clients to leverage their assets and generate revenue without having to invest their additional dollars.
WWD: How does The Wardrobe support the preservation of fashion?
J.A.C.: Through archiving, fashion houses can control their materials, curate their own story more directly and use their archives as inspiration to inform new designs. Archives also play a key role when a new designer takes over a storied house (as is so often the case with the major European labels) in helping the new designer understand traditional house codes and DNA.
Our services are crucial for entertainers and Hollywood. We archive everything our clients wear on tour, on the red carpet, in films or TV shows and even the things they are documented wearing in their personal lives. There are so many ways for them to monetize their archives, but the pieces must be properly maintained and preserved for the value to be there.
Our platform, The Digital Archivist, allows clients to look up any piece they desire in their personal archive from their phone, make seamless pulls and have a full overview of their archive, as well as help with the monetization of items without having them physically in front of them. It’s helpful for a lot of clients) to easily track the location of any piece within our facility — they can see if a piece has been checked out, where it was sent, who the courier was, when the piece was returned to our facility and stored, etc.
WWD: What is the importance of proper archiving in fashion?
J.A.C.: Designers can tap into their archives to repurpose their previous collections. Not only does this cause their collection to consist of some iconic, historical references, but the brand is ultimately being sustainable by repurposing original ideas/fabrics.
There is [also] tremendous value and opportunity in archiving — especially for the fashion and entertainment communities. One great recent example: Christie’s just auctioned off a Victor Edelstein gown that belonged to Princess Diana for over $600,000. The last time the dress was auctioned in 1997, it brought in a little over $24,000. That is quite a handsome profit. If the dress were not properly stored and preserved, the sale wouldn’t have been possible.
Entertainers and designers are sitting on tremendously valuable assets that we can help them preserve and even increase in value.
WWD: What are some of the creative ways in which you help to monetize the archives?
J.A.C.: The Archives we manage have been used for everything from exhibitions — including at the prestigious Costume Institute — to red carpet dressing, employee education and onboarding, movie costuming, experiential events, loans and even to promote productions nominated for awards. We also help facilitate auctions and sales.
The sky is the limit here. There are many ways we help our clients leverage their archives without having to divest the physical asset.
WWD: You’ve recently opened a location in L.A., what can you tell us about it?
J.A.C.: Wardrobe West is our brand new archival facility in Los Angeles. It is outfitted with temperature and humidity control, air filtration, lighting control, 24-hour security [and] motion detectors, and is a stand-alone building in an unpublished location.
What people need to know is how we ensure that each clients’ belongings are housed in their own “mini museum” within the facility. Whether it is a full design house’s previous collection or an entertainer’s costumes, everything is preserved in the most pristine and museum-level conditions, to properly maintain and even increase each item’s value for whatever future use that may be.
We do also offer our services to private people with fashion they need to store — “archiving” can sound intimidating, but it’s actually quite affordable and convenient for the average fashion fan, too.
Best of WWD
